How Much to Make My Own Dialer?

[Justin Bilyj]

I have been poking around lately and I am wondering to the experts who work with dialers, how much it costs to create them?

I put an ad on odesk to see what kind of prices I would get back for the feature I want. Basically for creation off the vicidial framework and installation to a server would be $500. Does that make sense?

Looking for feedback from Josh and Brooke and Raymond on this one.
Appreciate feedback always.

 

[Josh]

Are you going with an open ip address or just something for your office?

 

[Justin Bilyj]

could you enlighten me on the difference?

 

[Josh]

Do you want people to be able to login to it remotely or do you want it for your own office?

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Remotely, I am gonna hire some new callers again and I want them to be able to use them.

 

[djs]

I've put together several dialers. Its actually amazingly easy nowadays. Download trixbox or asterisknow, install on a decent computer, you are off and running.

Problem is, it requires a certain amount of technical expertise to make it work and to know what problems to test for and lookout for. Then there is the language barrier, basically understanding anything the instructions are talking about.....

So, if you have a basic understanding of linux, installing it will take an hour. If you have a basic understanding of networking, you won't have much problems making the networking work. You have to feel comfortable with doing things like port forwards though. Then comes configuring the VOIP account. Not hard, but if you've never done it, then dialing out becomes an issue.

Now, the complexity comes from how many users and how many lines. If you keep it no more than 3 users and 10 lines, you'll probably do okay in a single box. The download and install stuff is setup for this type of arrangement. If you want to record all calls, it can overload the server quickly.

My suggestion, play with it first. You might find it works well, or might realize its better to pay for a couple of seats. A free dialer isn't free, it takes a bit of work to make them go and the per minute fees with the voip provider.

Goto either Linux VPS, Trixbox, PBX in a Flash, Elastix, Asterisk Hosting | LYLIX - Home or VPS Hosting - Host Virtual, Inc and get an account to have them provide you with the dialer platform. Pay your odesk guy probably no more than $50 to get it to work with your VOIP account and you'll be off and running.

Once you are sure running your own server will work for you, then you can think about building your own server, if you want.

Dan

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Great reply to Make My Own Dialer?

Great reply Dan!

I need a certain feature with my dialer that may not apply (you tell me) to these options listed above. -I am looking for the ability to play recorded messages during the call (intro pitch, retorts to objections), allowing the caller to save energy and deliver a perfect pitch or retort every time.
lazy cold calling

 

[Josh]

Remotely, I am gonna hire some new callers again and I want them to be able to use them.

Let me start by saying that if this is something you want to do, go for it. I think it's easier to lease a seat from me and I'd love to sell them, but by all means, try it your own if you think it's a better option. I'm not trying to sound like a downer, but it's more complicated and has more issues than it may appear from the get.

1. You can use inexpensive hardware if it's just a handful of agents, but if you're going to invest in a dialer, you should get good hardware. Ideally something 64-bit with multiple cores and lots of RAM. You also want SAS drives, ideally with a hardware controller card. A good server can easily run you $1,000 or more. You can find some good deals on craigslist or ebay if you know what you're looking for, but what you really want is server grade hardware, not a desktop computer with at best sub-par components.

2. You need a home for the server. Ideally a collocation site. That in and of itself is going to be pricey, but it gives you a nice place to keep your (loud) server (that generates a lot of heat). It also will give you unrestricted ports so you can have an external telemarketer login to it. You're internet at home is going to have port 80 (web) blocked and have a dynamic IP address which means things would be constantly changing. There are ways around it, but unless you know exactly what you're doing, you're going to have to pay someone to work around it... and you'll still have a noisy server hanging around your dwelling space.

3. Now that you have a home for your server, you'll need to get it programmed. As Dan addressed, the install itself isn't bad, but getting it to work just right, especially with recordings, can be. You're really going to want a separate server for for storing recordings (does not need to be as strong of a machine as your main box) and that can take a pretty sizable load off your main box. You can use an install disk and get up and running pretty quick, but you will find things that can be buggy. This is especially true if you're using a cheap desktop computer because of potential limitations with disk access times, bus speeds, and driver issues.

4. This is the real "fun" part. Now that you have a server with a home that's programmed, you need to defend it. There are TONS of folks sniffing around to find asterisk boxes (vicidial's base) to extract the dial plan and make bogus phone calls to cell phones in Haiti that will cost you $14/minute. This is the result of a security failure. On top of that, any server with an external ip address is open to attacks for less specific purposes, folks that simply want to use your server to send out bogus emails, or just break it for you. It would be poor judgement for me to get into the details about the security measures I've taken to protect my dialer, but you could easily spend in excess of $10,000 getting the right hardware and the right setup to keep your system safe from intruders. Even if they don't get in, just the constant attacks can result in a DDOS attack. Even with server grade hardware, getting (no joke) 20 attempts a second on a brute force attack from a botnet can break your systems ability to do anything. You run into call quality issues (non-existent calls) and have virtually complete lack of access to your web gui. That's if they DON'T get in. If they do get in, best thing to do is wipe the system and do step three all over again after you reconsider your security plans.

For an individual user (even with three or four agents) the likelihood of it being cost-effective is nearly non-existent. Your break even point, best case scenario, is going to be measured in years. Part of the value proposition I bring to the table is that working with me you may be able to get through step three without a problem, at which point you would be saving on a monthly basis something around $50/month (difference between cost of leasing a seat and the colo/termination fees), but it would take years for that to cover the cost of mid-grade used technology and the install. That's on the hope and prayer that no one attacks your server by you leaving it completely naked out there. By the time you factor in any reasonable security measures you're hemorrhaging money into a dialer that you might not even be using in six months.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Great post Josh! So your saying its way easier to set up a dialer that one doesn't have to log into?
Whats that process? Still pricey with considerations to security and hardware?

What about the recording feature I am looking for, whats your opinion on that? I have seen Voicent and another vendor try to use this feature but their dialer sucked so not sure if the feature didn't work for them or its just their overall dialer...

 

[Josh]

Great post Josh! So your saying its way easier to set up a dialer that one doesn't have to log into?

No. If you have it in a local network then the dialer box wouldn't have a static external IP address. That's what allows a telemarketer to login remotely. If you setup a box next to your leg and you dial from it, provided you have it behind some type of a router or firewall, you're in good shape. If you have a consumer internet connection it's going to have a dynamic address and odds are your ports won't be open and/or pointing to anything interesting, so that avoids most of the problem.

Whats that process? Still pricey with considerations to security and hardware?

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. I think I outlined it pretty well, but if you're looking for a how-to guide on how to setup vici you should be looking around the internet for that, much better support then I'd be able to provide. That is unless you wanted to pay me to consult on it, in which case you'd definitely be spending more than you'd ever save (unless you have a 10+ agent operation).

What about the recording feature I am looking for, whats your opinion on that?

Candidly, I think it's foolish. Just hire competent telemarketers, they'll be way better than the recording feature you're talking about.

I have seen Voicent and another vendor try to use this feature but their dialer sucked so not sure if the feature didn't work for them or its just their overall dialer...

It's a flawed premise. Hire competent help.